


First Prides

by Erikthonius



Series: Pride Month [3]
Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pride Parades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erikthonius/pseuds/Erikthonius
Summary: Our heroes' first Pride Parades as Couples
Relationships: Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro, Mitchell/Connor Stoll, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Pride Month [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1423933
Comments: 15
Kudos: 148





	1. Will and Nico

**Author's Note:**

> Since we won't be going to Pride this year, now is a good time to reflect on first times going to the parades. 
> 
> Much as I love the interactions between Solangelo, FierroChase, and Conchell, this takes place before that happens.
> 
> Stay safe everyone; this is not the first time our community has weathered a plague mishandled by those at the top. And, as always, Happy Pride, Y'all.

“Come onnnn! It’ll be fun.”

Nico knew that tone. He was unmoved. It would not be fun. It would be dangerous; it would be humiliating; it would be undignified; it would be...well he wasn’t certain, but fun it would not be.

Will continued. “I’ve always wanted to go. I was too young before I came to camp, and because of, well you know, I couldn’t go alone, but now, my first Pride, in New York City (he breathed the name like it was the Elysian Fields), with my fabulous boyfriend. Who can protect me.” He fluttered his eyelashes at Nico like a Southern belle. “It’ll be perfect.” Will looked at Nico, making those big blue puppy dog eyes.

Nico looked down. Puppy dog eyes! It wasn’t fair. But that wasn’t the only reason. Okay, around camp was one thing. People didn’t seem to make a big deal about him and Will being a couple here. They were hardly the only gay couple in Camp Half Blood. But out there, out in the mortal world, it was different, Nico was sure.

Maybe it was better than in the 1930s when he was little, but he also remembered what it had been like just a few years ago when he was living on the streets before becoming the Ambassador of Pluto in Camp Jupiter. He had mostly kept away from the others, but he’d hide in the shadows and hear things, and so many times these poor kids had the same story. Thrown out of their parents’ houses for being gay.

He didn’t want to talk about that with Will. Will was not some fragile flower; he’d sown up countless wounded campers, for gods’ sake! But he was so good, so pure. He’d come to camp when he was ten, and he hadn’t been out in the world since. He didn’t need to hear about how awful people could be out there. So Nico came up with other reasons:

“Isn’t it supposed to be a huge crowd? What if a monster is attracted to us and attacks all those mortals? And how can your empathy cope with all those people?”

That elicited a pout. “First off, monster activity is way down after the last war. Second, I’ve been practicing controlling my empathy, so I should be fine.” Then, Will started playing dirty. “You know, Cecil would be happy to help me sneak out. Maybe I’ll go on my own.”

“Fine!” Nico threw his arms up. (Will always liked it when his boyfriend talked with his hands. “I’ll go, I’ll go. Idiota!” (That last word was muttered, but Will heard it well enough.)

=====  
Camp Half Blood - Pride Day morning

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Will’s voice came from the bathroom.

“That’s what I always wear, You’ve never complained about it before.”

NIco had come over to cabin seven wearing the same black jeans, combat boots, and black t-shirt that he always wore. Will had to admit that Nico did look very (very, very) good in that outfit, but he’d hoped that his boyfriend might put on at least a little color for his very first time at Pride.

Will emerged from the bathroom. Nico shot him a hard look and the wittiest of comebacks. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

Will had on his usual shorts, but in place of flip flops, he had a pair of rainbow colored sneakers, and his usual orange Camp Half Blood T shirt was replaced by a garishly tied-dyed shirt. To top it off, he’d applied rainbow decals to his cheeks. Nico was sure he was going to get attacked by someone. Oh well, he’d protect Will from monsters and bashers.

=====

Jules-Albert had dropped them off at Forest Hills (traffic into Manhattan today would be too much, even for the zombie driver), and they boarded the R train. Will was apprehensive.

“What’s the matter, Sunshine?”

“I don’t like being underground. I know it’s like your native habitat, but…”

Nico laughed at his boyfriend. Those Apollo kids. “Relax, it’s perfectly safe. We’ll change at Times Square and take the 1 train down to the Village.”

Will looked in awe at his suave, urbane boyfriend, who continued. “I can’t believe you’ve never ridden the subway. Oh, and when we change trains, I can show you an entrance to the Labyrinth.” Will just shuddered.

It was at Elmhurst that a tiny white haired woman wearing a black dress and carrying an enormous purse got on and sat across from them. She didn’t say a word, but Nico stiffened. He knew this type. Even with the gaps in his memory, his instincts made him fear the tiny figure opposite them. And then at Queensboro Plaza, a tall, thin boy with black curly hair and olive skin got on. The old woman stood up as the newcomer bent down and kissed her cheek.

“Nonna,” the boy cried out, “You made it.”

The old woman smiled up at him. “Of course I did, Carlo. Just like last year. And the year before. And I made the sign like I said I would.”

She reached into her voluminous purse and pulled out a placard that read “I love my gay grandson.” Then she said, “Maybe this year you can find a nice boy to date, like these two have.” She gestured at Will and Nico. Will smiled at her and waved. Nico just sat there, slightly bug-eyed.

=====

They came up the stairs at 14th Street. Indeed, as they’d walked through Times Square Station to change to the 1 train, Nico had pointed to the door with the barely visible delta on it. Mortals ignored it, but Will could see it clearly. He didn’t want to think about what lay on the other side. As they came up the stairs to the street, a tall woman with a dress covered in sequins and an elaborate hair-do called out to them, “Ooh, baby gays! Is it your first time at Pride?”

Nico shied back a little, but Will approached eagerly. As they got nearer, Nico noticed the faintest stubble on the woman’s face. Maybe not a woman. He thought about the gender fluid Hecate campers, and Augie, Will’s sibling who usually used female pronouns, but sometimes identified as male. He was accustomed to seeing non-binary campers, but to see someone like this out in the world, so at ease was startling.

Will was chatting easily with this woman, so Nico wanted to join in the conversation. To be polite, he asked, “What are your pronouns?”

“Aren’t you just the most darling thing? She and her today. My dears, I am Miss Holly Woodbowl, and I’m so pleased to meet you sweet boys. Now if you need any help finding your way, just give your Aunt Holly a call.” She pulled a business card from her ample cleavage and handed it to the boys. 

Nico looked at it and forced his eyes to focus. He read out slowly, fighting his dyslexia. “Josh Greenbaum, Attorney.”

Miss Holly plucked the card from his hands and flipped it over. “Today,” she said, “we use the other side.”

Will leaned over Nico’s shoulder and read out loud, not having quite as much trouble with letters. “Holly Woodbowl - Parties, events, brisses.”

“Now you babies have a faaabulous time!” Holly said as she strode off, her spike heels clicking on the pavement. “Today is our (she stressed the word) day.”

“It turns out that the parade route is the next block over,” Will said, “Come on, we want to get a spot so we can see everything.”

He urged his boyfriend on, but Nico seemed rooted to the spot. “Will, look!” He pointed. There in the window of a convenience store was a large rainbow flag and the words “Happy Pride.” The faintest smile lit his face.

“Yeah.” Will was happy to see the look on Nico’s usually somber face, “But come on. It’s going to get crowded soon. Besides…” he pointed at several other store windows. All of them sported similar signs. Once again, Nico’s eyes got bigger.

Although people were starting to gather, the boys found a spot by the curb and sat down. Will reached over to take Nico’s hand, but he pulled it back. “Not in public,” he whispered. Will put his hand back, trying not to show his disappointment.

They started at the sound of motorcycles revving their engines. The parade had started. Will stood up and cheered. “Yay! Dykes on Bikes.”

Nico looked shocked. “Will! Don’t call them that! It’s rude.” But Will pointed at the banner identifying the first contingent as just that. Again, the brown eyes grew wide. Even Nico had to smile when the next contingent went by on non-powered vehicles, being women too young to have licenses, but proudly bearing the banner, “Dykes on Trikes.”

He stood up for the next group, however. To mortal eyes, it probably looked like the first group, albeit much larger women, but to Will and Nico, they were plainly cyclopes, each one mounted on huge bikes. Nico reached for his sword. He knew that the Mist hid it from mortal eyes and hoped that if trouble occurred, the Mist would cover that as well. With cyclopes, you never knew. There were those like Percy’s brother Tyson, one of the sweetest, gentlest creatures he’d ever known, but there were also the rogues like Ma Gasket and her horrible children, who’d tried to make a meal of Jason, Piper, and Leo. Best to be ready for anything.

One of the one-eyed women pulled toward them on her immense vehicle and killed the engine so that they could hear her.

“Whoa, whoa, little demigods! Put the sword away. Is this your first New York Pride?”

Will nodded, and the woman continued.

“Well, I don’t know about other cities, but here, Pride is a truce day. You don’t try to kill us, and we don’t try to eat you, especially if you’re LGBT. Are you?”

Again Will nodded eagerly and said, “Gay, both of us.” Nico blushed but softly replied in agreement.

“Like I said,” no violence from either side. Today, we’re celebrating. Monster, human, or demigod, we’ve all been through a worse struggle together. Happy Pride, my gay brothers! Stay strong!” Then she revved her engine and rejoined her contingent.

Nico gaped as the contingents went past. The gay policemen, the seminary students, the floats, with each group, his eyes got wider, and he became more animated, asking question after question in an excited voice. Will smiled as he saw his boyfriend turn back into the eager kid he remembered arriving at Camp Half Blood. They wandered through the crowd, Nico holding his hand happily and even planting an occasional kiss on his cheek when the mood seized him.

At the end of the day, Will smiled at him (for the thousandth time) and said, “Do you think you want to come back next year, maybe put on a little pride gear?”

Nico smiled back at him and said, “Yeah, we can come back, but I’m sticking with this look. I think it works for me.”


	2. Magnus and Alex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place before The Ship of the Dead, so before the kiss under the blanket.

Meanwhile, in Boston:

“Hey Alex, are you going to Pride this weekend?”

Before she could answer, another voice called out, “Oh, is the argr parade this weekend?” 

“Halfborn Gunderson, you insensitive buffoon!” That would be Mallory Keen, punctuating her words with smacks to Halfborn’s head.

“Don’t call it that! That’s not what it is. I hate that word!” Alex snarled, twining her garrote around her fingers.

“What’s wrong with argrs? I knew this mace.” That was Jack, Magnus’s rather gossipy sword. “They always said they were argr and proud of it.”

“They?” TJ asked, taking a break from sharpening his bayonet.

“That was the mace’s preferred pronoun. Respect the pronouns,” the sword said.

“At last one of you losers said something sensible,” Alex put in, as she walked out of the room, looking no less irritated.

As Magnus was heading down to dinner, Alex caught up with him. Why did you ask me about Pride, Beantown?” Her expression was unreadable.

Magnus replied, “Well, we used to go every year. I mean, my mom and I used to go. It was fun, and we liked to show our support, be good allies, that kind of thing. I thought it would be nice to go again, you know with friends.” He tried to keep it out of his face, but sometimes remembering times with his mother made his eyes sting a little bit.

Alex’s face softened a little bit as she looked at him. “I wasn’t planning on going. It’s not really my scene, but what the Helheim. If you want to be an ally,” there was something about the way she said that word, “I’ll go with you as your,” and then she paused, “friend.”

As she walked on ahead of him, Magnus smiled, but he thought, “I do not understand Alex Fierro.”

=====  
On the morning of the march, Magnus took out the t-shirt his mother had bought him the last time they went to Pride together. It had been too large for him then, but she laughed and told him he’d grow into it. Now, after his ‘einherjar upgrade,’ the shirt was a little tight on him, but he wanted to wear it anyway. On the front, in rainbow letters, it said, “Love is love,” and around it were the various LGBTIQA flags. He put it on and looked at himself in the mirror. He fussed a little too much with his hair. He was still getting used to the haircut Alex had given him when they needed his hair to complete that magic bowling bag, but he finally got it to where he was satisfied. He was about to step out into the hallway when he heard a buzzing from his nightstand.

“Hey, hey, hey! Amigo, you almost forgot me.” Jack bounced around impatiently.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to come,” said Magnus apologetically. “I didn’t think it was…” he began, but Jack cut him off.

“I’m all about the lady swords, but I gotta support my brothers and sisters who aren’t straight.” Magnus thought about scimitars, but he didn’t think that was what Jack meant.

Alex met him in the lobby. Magnus couldn’t say how, but he could tell that Alex was male this morning. Magnus found it a little confusing, but yes, Alex was male, and he looked very good indeed in that outfit. As they headed for the doors, Hunding, the bellhop called out, “Have fun out there. Don’t get killed outside the hotel, and bring me back…”

Magnus laughed, “I know, chocolate covered espresso beans.”

=====

This was Magnus’s first time at Pride since he became an einherjar, and he was seeing some rather odd things, things he’d never seen before. When he thought about it, he realized that they’d always been there, but mortal eyes just couldn’t perceive them. What first caught his attention was what seemed at first glance to be a fairly normal family scene. Two rather tall men, obviously a couple, one of them with what looked like a lot of tattoos, and their four year-old son, but when Magnus looked at them more closely, he noticed that something odd about the eyes of one of the men, and their child’s skin and hair were blue. Oh well, he’d probably see stranger things than that by the end of the day. 

He went to point out the family to Alex, but he was scanning the crowd a little nervously. Magnus started to ask him what the matter was, but Alex muttered, “Crap, she saw me.”

At that moment, he was glad Jack had wanted to come along. He didn’t know what had upset Alex, but he wanted to be ready. Then he saw that Alex made no move toward his trusty garrot. He just stood there as a tall woman made her way toward them.

“Old foe?” Magnus asked.

“Worse. Old friend. From before…” he trailed off, but Magnus knew what he meant. Someone who’d known Alex before he died, who wouldn’t understand how a dead person could be walking the rather crowded streets.

“Alex!” the woman called. “Alex Fierro.” She strode up to them and seized Alex in a hug. Magnus was shocked. He’d never even imagined anyone daring to hug Alex. Even more strange, Alex was hugging her back.

“Alex, I thought you were dead.” There was a tremor in her voice, like she might start to cry. “I heard that you were attacked, that you were killed.” She was sobbing openly now, pressing her face into Alex’s shoulder.

“No, no, JD, it’s okay.” Alex was patting the woman on the back to get her to calm down and looking very uncomfortable doing it. “It’s just that, can you not tell anybody? I have to kind of keep it quiet.”

The tall woman, JD, seemed to settle down. She did give Alex a look, though. “Can I tell the gang back at the studio? They’d be so happy.”

Alex shook his head. “Sorry, I need to lay low for a while. I promise, when it’s safe, I’ll come by the studio and say hi to everybody.”

“You better,” she teased him. “We still have some of the pots you were working on. I hope you don’t mind, but Linda fired them. She said it was your memorial. Oh my god! She’s gonna faint when she sees you.” Then she noticed Magnus for the first time. “And who is this?”

“Hi, I’m…” Magnus started, but Alex cut him off.

“This is my friend. Call him Maggie.”

JD eyed him up and down. “Very nice,” she said, her eyebrows moving up and down like semaphores as she turned back to face Alex. “Well, Fierro, I gotta go, but come back to the studio as soon as you can. Nobody had your touch on the wheel.” With that, she strode off into the crowd.

Magnus was looking about as uncomfortable as Alex had a moment ago. Then he asked, “Was she flirting with me?”

Alex’s scowl disappeared. He barked out a laugh. “Trust me, Beantown, you are absolutely not her type.”

From his neck, the pendant that was Jack called out, “I think she’d prefer Mallory.”

That got another laugh out of Alex. Magnus was really starting to enjoy the day; he was glad he’d convinced Alex to come to Pride with him. He still missed coming here with his mother, but being out here on such a fine day and hearing Alex laughing, well he could get used to that.


	3. Mitchell and Connor

It was the end of May, and Mitchell was excited. Pride was coming. He’d been to Pride parades before. (He’d even tried to organize one in the tiny little town in Oklahoma where he grew up. It hadn’t gone well; the family that he was fostered with had promptly thrown him out.) But this was different. This was the first time he was going with his boyfriend. Or at least he hoped he was. When he asked Connor about going, the son of Hermes gave a sort of “sure, maybe, whatever” answer, almost like he had other plans that day.

Mitchell was determined not to let his boyfriend’s indifference get him down. At the very least, he could assemble a posse. Just like their divine parents, a good fraction of Camp Half Blood’s campers were all over the sexual map. They were gay, they were bi, they were trans, they were queer, they were lesbian, they were pan, they were ace. Surely he could get together a group of friends to go with him, and if Connor didn’t want to come along, his loss.

But who to ask? Nico was out. He was just coming to terms with his sexuality, and he was so shy. Besides, if he went, he’d be going with Will, and he was very private about his relationship with the healer. There were a few of his siblings, but a lot of them were too young and inexperienced to be allowed to go on an outing, especially into Manhattan.

Jake. Jake Mason was proudly out and pan. Maybe Mitchell could ask his sister Nyssa as well. Mitchell knocked on the door of the Hephaestus cabin.

“Hey, Mitchell,” the burly blacksmith greeted him. “What’s up?”

“Jake, do you have any plans for Pride?” Mitchell asked him.

Jake hesitated. “Well, you see, we’re working on…” He was interrupted by a loud banging sound, followed by Nyssa calling something out in Spanish that Mitchell suspected wasn’t appropriate. “Whoops, gotta go. Sorry Mitch.” Jake hurriedly closed the door to the cabin.

Maybe the Hecate campers. They could be rather off-putting, but none of that goddess’s children were even remotely straight. Mitchell was reluctant to approach the cabin proper, as it tended to have some rather odd ways of repelling intruders, and he didn’t fancy being turned into a squirrel, albeit an impeccably groomed one, so he waited until breakfast, when Jazz, the former head counsellor would make the daily pronoun announcement.

As she (today, Jazz’s pronouns were she and her) sat down, Mitchell came up, waving in what he hoped they’d interpret as a friendly manner.

“Hey Jazz, nice top.” (Leave it to an Aphrodite kid to know exactly which article of clothing to compliment.) “I was wondering if you or any of your siblings might be interested in going with me to Pride on Saturday.”

It was Lou Ellen who answered. “Saturday? This Saturday doesn’t look auspicious. We have runes to cast, sorry.”

Mitchell walked back to the Aphrodite table feeling defeated. He could ask Malcolm, but the Athena boy wasn’t always the best company, tending to be too analytical. Well, time to bite the bullet. He went over to the Ares table. Ellis Wakefield was a little too macho for his taste and not the most sparkling conversationalist, but needs must.

“Ellis, were you planning on going to Pride?” Mitchell asked.

“Pride, huh? Well yeah, but…” Ellis got a sharp smack on the back of his head from his brother Sherman.

“Sorry, Mitch, we have guard duty that day.” The head of the Ares cabin shook his head.

On Friday night, Mitchell went to bed feeling dejected. He didn’t care. He’d go to Pride himself. He would be fabulous. On his own.

=====

The next morning, he got up early, not wanting to have to compete with his siblings for mirror time in the cabin bathroom. The cabin was strangely silent, but he counted that as at least one thing going right. He’d do his face and put on a fabulous outfit, and then he’d go ask Argus to give him a lift into the city. He was going to enjoy Pride in spite of everyone else, especially his stupid boyfriend.

He stepped out of his cabin where he was greeted by…

That same stupid boyfriend, looking perfect, wearing that super cute outfit Mitchell had picked out for him last month, the one that showed off his fine, fine runner’s legs and his more than fine ass. His usually unruly curls were nicely combed, and was that just the barest hint of eyeliner?

“Come on, we’re all set,” Connor said, grinning that stupid Hermes grin that Mitchell could never resist.

“Come on where?” Mitchell asked, dumbfounded.

“Well, to Pride, of course.”

“But, how are we going to get there?”

“Got that all taken care of,” Connor said, leading his boyfriend by the hand around to the back of the Aphrodite cabin, where the float stood.

The float. That was what the Hephaestus cabin had been working on. It was enormous. Around the rim were beautifully painted symbols, obviously done by the Athena cabin working in conjunction with the Hecate campers to guarantee protection (and a bit of Mist if concealment was needed). At the front of the float were several of the Ares campers, including Ellis and Sherman, looking not at all bad with their shirts off and their arms and chests oiled. The sides of the float were packed with his siblings waving gay, lesbian, bi, and trans flags. At the back was a band of Apollo campers with Austin directing them. But in the center of the float…

There was a throne. Connor pointed to the throne. “That’s where you sit, sweets.” Mitchell was speechless.

When he could finally utter a coherent sound, it was, “but how...but how?”

Another Hermes grin. “I had to call in a lot of favors. But babe, you’re worth it. Now get on your throne so we can get to the assembly point before the parade starts.”

Mitchell had to fight back the tears. This was practically perfect. He climbed up and was about to sit down when Connor stopped him before he sat on it.

There it was, sitting on the throne. A fucking tiara. And a sceptre. Thank all the gods for waterproof mascara. And hot Hermes boys.


End file.
